"Lelouch! Kallen!" Suzaku shouted as he watched in horror as they both disappeared through the wormhole's wall. Rai and Shirley followed shortly after on the other side. Before he could shout further, though, he felt something strike Yoru, and his vision turned black.

Had Suzaku been watching from outside, what had struck hs Lion was the Blue and Yellow Lions, spiraling out of control in the opposite direction of everyone else. The Paladins inside of them screaming in terror the entire time. The three Lions as one collided with the far wormhole wall and disappeared.


Up above in a crystal blue sky, the wormhole opened its vast purple chasm, and spat the three Lions out, hurtling them towards the icy planet down below.

Though Suzaku was still unconscious, Milly and Rivalz continued to scream as gravity took over, and the three Lions slammed hard into the ice-covered surface. The impact was hard enough to break the ice open, and the three Lions started to sink deep towards the bottom of the planet's sea.

The crash was also hard enough to wake Suzaku up, as the impact nearly sent him flying out of his seat. Miraculously, even without seatbelts of any kind, he remained in place.

When Suzaku's eyes finally adjusted to seeing clearly again, he yelled in shock, seeing only the dark, murky depths surrounding the trio. Warning lights were blaring in red all around him as he tugged a couple of Yoru's controls to try and rouse her.

"Okay, that's not working. Um," Suzaku took a deep breath and then called over the comms, "Rivalz, Milly, you two okay?"

"Well, besides the fact that I got sucked out of a wormhole at light speed, then crash-landed on an ice planet and ended up underwater, doing great," Milly answered back sarcastically.

"Yeah, I'm fine too," Rivalz answered. The Blue Paladin took the time to try and activate one of Polaris's systems, but a warning light was all that answered him upon doing so.

Milly was also trying to wake up Maeraka, but wasn't having any luck, "My main system is down. The crash must have screwed it up. Do either of yours work?"

"Negative," Suzaku answered.

"Yeah, I'm on reserve power. My Lion's pretty much dead in the water," Rivalz grinned, laughing at his pun.

The Purple and Yellow Paladins groaned in frustration.

"This situation's bad enough, Rivalz. Don't make it worse with puns," Milly scolded with a frown.

"I'm just shocked we hit a planet. Didn't Rai tell us that space was 90% empty?" Rivalz asked as the three Lions started sinking past large rock outcroppings.

"Apparently, we got pretty lucky," Milly agreed, "maybe the inhabitants here can help us out, though."

"We should get back in contact with the others immediately," Suzaku said, as he pressed some buttons on the commlink, "Hello, Princess? Lelouch? It's Suzaku. If you can hear me, please respond!" the only thing that came out through the radio was static. Suzaku groaned, "The signal must be out of range."

"Or it's not working at all," Milly said, anxiety in her tone, "I mean, you and Kallen fought Zarkon two-to-one, and from what we could see, it looked like a tough fight."

"Tough? More like awesome! I mean, did you see that cannon Kallen and Aka pulled out? That was cool!" Rivalz exclaimed.

"Fight?" Suzaku breathed out an exhausted laugh, "More like a beatdown. Kallen and I were hitting Zarkon with everything we had, but we barely even made a dent in him. When Kallen pulled that cannon out, I think the only thing that did was surprise him. It honestly didn't look like he had even broken a sweat."

Rivalz gulped loudly on the other end, and Milly's face paled. The two Paladins now really hoped that they wouldn't face Zarkon themselves.

The three briefly braced themselves as they felt their Lions softly land on the ocean bottom.

"Anyway, let's check for damage and get the Lions running," Suzaku ordered.

"Copy that," the other two replied.

Just as Rivalz was about to try some buttons again, to his pleasant surprise, Polaris's lights started to blink on again, the room illuminating in a soft blue glow.

"Oh, good. Polaris is coming back online now. Welcome back, beautiful," he grinned as her head lifted up, and her eyes flashed with light.

Rivalz was also the first to realize that they weren't the only ones down at the bottom, as a humanoid figure suddenly swam out of view of Polaris's lights.

The Blue Paladin blinked, "Uh... guys, did-did you just see something swim by?"

"What?" Suzaku asked, sounding confused.

"No, I didn't see anything," Milly added.

Swallowing the small knot of fear that was forming in his stomach, Rivalz turned Polaris's head to the left. He saw the same creature again but managed to get a good look at her figure, and he gasped.

"No way!" he exclaimed, "Guys, this is going to sound crazy, but I think I just saw a mermaid."

"Wait, what?" Suzaku asked, sounding shocked.

"Okay, Rivalz, how hard did you bang your head when we hit the planet?" Milly asked skeptically.

"No, I'm serious!" Rivalz shouted in frustration, only to yelp when he spotted the mermaid swim by again, Polaris's head following it. "Look! There it is again!" Rivalz was trying so desperately to keep his eye on the creature, that he was having Polaris swim around in literal circles. "Hey, come here! Where you going?" Suddenly the mermaid made an angled swim upward, causing Polaris to do a backward somersault before she finally stopped. "Hey, slow down!"

"Rivalz, careful!" Suzaku shouted, "We have to stay focused and get to the others... You're outside of your Lion," Suzaku frowned as he watched the Blue Paladin manually leave his Lion to swim closer to the mermaid.

"I know we have to find the others. I'm just saying maybe this thing can help," Rivalz told them as he looked back at them. "Also, it's a mermaid. A mermaid! Come on, let's find it."

"Hey, wait up!" Milly exclaimed as Rivalz started swimming the direction the mermaid disappeared to. She quickly exited Maeraka to catch up with Suzaku reluctantly following behind.

Once the two caught up the Blue Paladin, Suzaku activated his gauntlet, and a blue light appeared from the end. He shined it around the rock formations that surrounded them, and eventually, the glow did fall on the mermaid in the distance. She seemed to be waiting for them to follow her.

"Come on!" Rivalz exclaimed once they spotted her, his jetpack spurting him forward. Milly and Suzaku were quick to follow, Suzaku still shining the flashlight. The mermaid weaved around the rocks as if it were a jungle gym, but she never got too far away that they lost her.

"I can't believe this," Milly exclaimed, sounding excited, "we're actually chasing a mermaid! Of all things!"

The only one that didn't look like he was in fairytale land was Suzaku, who kept a skeptical frown on his face the entire time they followed the mermaid. "Either way, we still need to be careful. She could be dangerous."

"How can a mermaid be dangerous?" Rivalz asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Harry Potter. Spiderwick Chronicles. Pirates of the Carribean." Suzaku listed off, matter-of-factly, "The mermaids in all of those series are dangerous!"

Before any more debate could sprout from their conversation, the mermaid suddenly turned sharply to the left and disappeared.

"Hey, wait, wait, wait! We're friendly!" Rivalz called out after her, Suzaku's light still shining in her direction.

Milly then gasped as she looked in front of them. The boys followed her gaze and gasped as well.

"Whoa! And here I thought Atlantis was a fairytale!" Rivalz exclaimed. Down below, they saw what looked like an underwater village with a large, bushy garden in the center, and a building they could only assume was a palace directly behind it.

"Hello," a friendly voice greeted them from behind. The Paladins leaped back and were surprised to see the mermaid that they had been tracking directly behind them. Her hands were folded in front of her. "Welcome to my village. Here, all are safe and warm."

Now that they had a proper look at the mermaid, the trio could say that she didn't look like any mermaid they'd ever seen. She had pale pink skin, a powerful orange fishtail, raggedy pink finlets situated on her hips, and pink stripes on her tail and crotch area. Her eyes were entirely blue and reflective, with pink discoloration on her eyelids and two spots in the semblance of eyebrows. She has long pink hair with prominent side-bangs and a white patch running down the middle, with flimsy pink antennae located on her forehead. She was also wearing a yellow, short-sleeved crop top exposing her torso. The shirt had a green ruffle collar, a reverse sweetheart neckline and pink spots on the shoulders. She also had on pink ballroom gloves with sharp-looking fins on the elbow.

As the mermaid smiled at them, the Paladins then heard the sound of rushing water behind them. Looking back, they yelped as two large muscle sea creatures, wearing some kind of armor swam up behind them. One looked like alien walrus and the other a large purple, humanoid fish.

"Please, do not startle out guests!" the mermaid scolded the soldiers after the Paladins had scattered away from them. After they saw that it was safe, though, they approached the merfolk again.

"I am Florona," the mermaid finally introduced herself with a soft smile, "The almighty Queen Luxia, keeper of our land, would love to meet with you."

"Wait. How did your queen know we were here?" Suzaku asked suspiciously.

Florona just smiled mysteriously, "Queen Luxia knows all."

This answer didn't sit well with the Purple Paladin. Something in his gut told him that something was wrong, but he knew he couldn't do anything without proof, first. While he made a quick mental note to be cautious, he followed Rivalz and Milly as they were escorted to some giant seahorses that they were encouraged to mount.

As the three merfolk escorted the Paladins closer to the castle, they couldn't help but notice how beautiful the village itself was. The homes seemed to be made mostly of rocks and coral, and small crevices glowing with glow and pink light illuminated the background. More merfolk of all shapes and sizes stared after them as they passed by.

"This place is beautiful," Milly commented with a small smile.

"Yeah…" Rivalz agreed with a nod.

Suzaku, though he admitted to himself that it was a pretty place, still spoke cautiously, "Guys, I know this mermaid thing is cool and all, but we really gotta go."

"We will, Suzaku, we will, but let's meet this queen first. Besides, maybe she can help us," Milly argued back.

"Yeah," Rivalz nodded before an almost devious grin spread over his face, "and, if I just happen to find the future Mrs. Cardemonde, well, then that is al lright with me."

The Blue Paladin then suddenly yelped as he felt something hit him hard in the shin. Looking over, he saw that Milly's ride had drifted a little closer to his, but the Yellow Paladin continued to stare ahead as if nothing happened.

"Sorry, foot slipped," she quipped aloofly.

Rivalz scowled. Sometimes he wondered what was going on in that girl's head.

The seahorses eventually came to a stop in front of the palace's entrance, and the three Paladins dismounted. Waiting for them at the front was who they could assume was the queen surrounded by two additional guards. She had teal skin, a long, dark blue fishtail that was speckled with teal spots, and large smooth finlets on her arms by her wrists. Her eyes were also blue. Her hair was light seafoam green and styled into two large hoops behind her back, and her ears were also small purple finlets that had large thin dangling earrings hanging from them.

"Space travelers, I am Queen Luxia," she greeted them warmly, "I welcome you to our village as honored guests."

"The honor's all ours," Rivalz greeted before attempting to bow, "I'm Ri-i-i-i-valz!" he then yelped as the water accidentally sent him floating over backward.

Despite this embarrassing stunt, Suzaku was quick to recover, "Hello Your Majesty, I'm Suzaku, and this is Milly," Suzaku turned and gestured to the Yellow Paladin, who was assisting Rivalz in getting upright again, "We need your help. We crash-landed on your planet, but we really need to get back in touch with our friends who are in space. Would you possibly have any way of doing that?"

The queen smiled, "Suzaku, Milly, Rivalz, I can solve all of your problems. Here, we are all safe and warm."

"You use magic, don't you?" Milly guessed, "This castle's a ship, isn't it? This castle is a ship, am I right? Just don't say anything if I'm right." Milly held up her hands jokingly as she smiled from her babbling.

"Here, I've brought you these," the queen said, as another guard swam up behind her, carrying what looked like a giant conch shell, "The bubble coral will provide you with all the air you need."

The merman swam up to Suzaku and placed the coral against his helmet. To the Paladin's surprise, a giant bubble came out of it and engulfed his entire head. He gasped as he ran his hands along the bubble's surface. It felt dense like thick plastic and showed no signs of breaking in his grip. Even when his hands did penetrate the surface, no water rushed in afterward as he lifted his helmet from his head.

"We thank you," Suzaku said graciously as he lowered his helmet to his side. The merman quickly administered bubbles to Milly and Rivalz as well.

"Cool!" Rivalz exclaimed as Milly laughed. The queen started speaking again as they bost took off their helmets as well.

"And rest assured, your space vessels will be well protected," she gestured above them, and the Paladins turned and gasped as they saw their Lions, with particle barriers up, being transported on thick beds of seaweed towards the palace. "Now, please, follow me."

Before they could do so, Rivalz noticed the large glowing plant behind them, the one they had been able to see from the edge of the village, "What is that?"

"That is the giver of life to our people, the Baku Garden," Luxia happily explained, "When the waters froze over, we were forced to live down here. The garden provides us the warmth and food we need to survive. Because of it, we are taken care of. Here, all are safe and warm."

Suzaku tensed as alarms went off in his head. There was that saying again. It was being said way much too often around here to be considered normal…


Inside, the Paladins were pleasantly greeted with a banquet that the queen had arranged once she saw them land on their planet. Shells and other things used as their instruments were being played softly in the background. Several mermaids escorted the trio to seats at the front table, large amounts of food and cuisine were already lined up along the middle. The queen herself was seated at the head of it.

Though it looked strange (then again, most alien foods did), the food was delicious. As Suzaku bit into some sort of pastry, he couldn't help but grin as Rivalz smiled alluringly at a couple of mermaids that were lingering by the table. They giggled at a joke the Blue Paladin made, and Rivalz laughed proudly to himself.

Glancing over at Milly, he blinked when he noticed the stink eye that she was subtly shooting at the Blue Paladin. She was attempting to mask it by piling her plate with food and shoving the first thing in her mouth, chewing furiously.

Suzaku chuckled. When were these two going to get a clue? And they called him dense?

The Purple Paladins then turned his attention to the monarch sitting nearby, "Thank you for the food, Your Highness, it tastes great."

"I'm glad you enjoy it. It was picked fresh from the Baku Garden," Luxia smiled before she gestured to the stage in front of them, "And I hope you enjoy the entertainment."

Drums started to play as Suzaku, and his friends drew their attention towards the drawn red curtain. A stage light glowed, and what appeared to be a young mermaid dancer was twirling gracefully from behind it.

"Whoa," Rivalz sighed as he looked on, his cheeks coloring slightly. This only caused Milly to scowl deeper.

However, the curtain soon lifted, and a mermaid didn't greet them, but a purple octopus with another small creature on its head. The creature twirled in the air before spreading out its tentacles widely.

Rivalz nearly choked on his food upon seeing the dancer's identity, and Milly started laughing at the absolute horror-struck reaction on his face.

"Anyway," Suzaku said, drawing his eyes away for a moment to turn to the queen, "about us getting in contact with our friends, how can you help us? We just got out of a large battle, and they may need our help."

"Please, let's discuss that after the dance," Luxia said politely, still gazing at the octopus.

Suzaku frowned at having the matter brushed off, but figured that he should be polite enough to comply. It was just a dance show… right? He shrugged as he turned back to the octopus.

The creature flipped again before turning sideways and spinning slowly in a circle, the lights shining off it, making it look like over a dozen legs were waving in front of them.

'It's like one of those… optical illusion… things…' Suzaku thought before his head suddenly felt light, and his thoughts jumbled together.

"This dance… is amazing," Milly commented, her eyes slowly glazing over.

"Yeah," Rivalz nodded slowly in agreement, eyes also getting hazy, "It's the-it's the most amazing thing I've ever seen."

"I'm glad you enjoy it," Luxia said to them, her voice getting strangely more echoey, as more light seemed to penetrate from the dance, looking almost like a vortex, "Put your mind at ease. Let your consciousness drift like the tide."

"Sure, I can do that," Suzaku murmured, his head bobbing down like he was about to fall asleep. His head then suddenly shot up, his eyes wide open and pupils dilated, "Wait, we were just talking about something. Weren't we?"

"You were just telling me how much you like it here," Luxia softly whispered in Suzaku's ear, "how much you wanted to stay forever."

"Really?" he asked, starting to feel weak in the knees.

"Really," the queen confirmed with a smile.

"Yeah. Here, we are all safe and warm," Milly agreed, sounding dreamy, "Guys, I think we should stay here forever."

"Okay," Rivalz replied in a slurred tone, floating lazily above the table.

Queen Luxia smiled in victory.


After the banquet, the Paladins were escorted to a room that they could sleep in. The beds themselves consisted of some sort of giant oysters with soft pink foam for cushioning. Sleeping underwater was fascinating. It made one wonder why they needed beds at all. Because they never stayed in them.

Despite laying in them for a few minutes, the Paladins were soon drifting slowly away from them around the room. They even floated into each other sometimes. This resulted in Milly, somehow, holding tightly to Rivalz with a content smile on her face, slight drool sliding down her chin.

"Hey Euphie," Suzaku mumbled in his sleep, "I hope you…" he yawned in between in sentence, "...enjoy this daifuku I made for you. The filling is strawberry flavored… I know you love strawberries."

The Paladins were in such deep slumber that they didn't hear the wall behind them break open from a clawed hand. The claw them proceeded to carve a bigger hole around it, and the wall was removed to reveal three jellyfish peaking in. Well, sort of. There were three jellyfish, but they were on the heads of three other figures that stealthily swam into the room and approached the slumbering Paladins.

One of them approached Suzaku and covered him in a thick seaweed blanket from head to toe. Another approached both Milly and Rivalz, and seeing that trying to pull them apart was probably a bad idea, wrapped them up together. The three figures then proceeded to drag the three Paladins out of the hole that was made.

They successfully pulled out Suzaku, but Milly and Rivalz got stuck partway. Not to say that they by themselves would not have fit through, but due to being held together, they were just too big.

The three figures still attempted to pull them through, as quietly but gently as possible. This was their one shot to pull off their plan; they didn't want to hurt the land dwellers accidentally.

They were forced to halt their efforts when they spotted a patrol swim by. They weren't seen, but next time they might not be so lucky.

"Leave them," the leader, wearing a giant orange jellyfish, said urgently, "We have to get out of here."

The figure trying to tug them out let go, and the three of them swam off quickly into the darkened sea.


Suzaku was still fast asleep when the figures brought him to their lair. They had set him down on a soft pile of seaweed but had bound his hands behind him. They had also placed a big starfish over his eyes.

After they left briefly to retrieve something, they returned, relieved to see that he hadn't moved. One of them cautiously swam up and poked him firmly on the shoulder. Suzaku grunted and sat up, still feeling drowsy.

He smacked his lips a few times and opened his eyes, only to met with darkness thanks to the starfish.

He blinked in confusion, "Hello?" he called out drowsily, looking around, "Um… Good morning!" when he still didn't get a reply, he questioned further, "Where am I?"

"He's awake!" one of the figures whispered urgently.

"Why am I blindfolded? Is this a game? I like games..." Suzaku smiled with a dopey grin. Then one of the merfolk approached him with a fat fish that they squeezed close to his face. It exuded a thick green gas into Suzaku's face but soon faded away.

Whatever the gas was, it also woke Suzaku up from whatever trance he was in, as he suddenly sat up more straight, "Wait, where am I? Why am I blindfolded? What's going on?" He shot to his feet and kicked furiously in the water, trying to get some sort of bearings despite not seeing anything.

One of the figures grabbed the starfish that was on Suzaku's face and pulled it off. Suzaku shook his head and blinked several times to adjust to the lighting again. In front of him were three figures floating in front of him. All of them were wearing some sort of green seaweed poncho with different colored jellyfish on their heads. The one to his left was orange, the middle was a yellow-green, and to his right was a teal colored one.

"It's okay. You were mind-swished, but now we want to-"

"Kill me?! Well, think again!" Suzaku shouted, interrupting the teal one and using his jetpack to shoot past them down the tunnel.

"Wait! Come back!" one of them shouted after him, but Suzaku wasn't listening, too busy trying to find a way out.

He gasped fearfully when he almost ran headfirst into some spears and other sharp weapons that were sticking out of the wall. He almost turned to swim the other direction, but paused and took a moment to use them to cut through his restraints.

Now with his arms free, Suzaku grabbed his Bayard but didn't activate it just yet as he swam down another tunnel. He shouted in surprise again when he ran into a room that was filled with bones from dead fish of all sizes. Now starting to get a little scared, he turned and fled down the next tunnel. He was swimming by a small outcropping when a movement caught his eye.

Slowing down to investigate, he inhaled when he saw that the room was filled with multi-colored jellyfish. Seeing that the fish weren't trying to hurt him, he swam in to take a closer look. But, much to his surprise, the jellyfish suddenly increased to about ten times their original size, blocking his way.

With a yelp, he swiftly turned around to leave, only to see the exit blocked by the three merpeople that brought him here.

He activated his Bayard, holding the katana in front of him with a threatening frown.

"Who are you? Where are my friends?!" he demanded.

"Please, we are not here to hurt you," the one with teal jellyfish said, holding her hands up in a placating gesture, "I am Plaxum."

"Blumfump," the orange jelly said.

"Swirn," the yellow one introduced.

"Okay, but you still didn't answer my question. Where are Milly and Rivalz?"

"We tried to bring them too, but we couldn't, but we need your help. We believe you are our savior," Plaxum explained before she and her companions bowed to him.

Suzaku relaxed a little, hearing the desperation in the mermaid's voice, but still didn't lower his katana.

"Your savior? What do you want with me?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"The queen is mind-swishing everyone, controlling their thoughts," Blumfump explained, his flippers on his hips, "We believe you can stop her."

Suzaku did lower his katana this time and looked at the mer in a mixture of confusion and horror. What was going on?


Back at the palace, Milly and Rivalz finally managed to wake up on their own. They looked around, confused as to why everything was upside down. They then looked at each other. Only then did they realize the predicament they were in.

They screamed in surprise as they tried to break free of whatever was holding them together.

"Help! Help! Somebody!" Milly called out as she struggled to push free of the wall they were wedged into. Rivalz's own struggles weren't helping much either.

At the entrance to the room, the two were relieved to see Florona and Queen Luxia enter the room with some guards. Florona was carrying a tray of food in her hands.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she swam closer to the pair in alarm.

"I don't know, and we're stuck in the wall somehow!" Rivalz exclaimed as he tried to wiggle out.

"Yeah, and-wait!" Milly did a quick scan of the room, "Where's Suzaku? He's gone!"

"There was a break-in," the queen realized as the two guards helped the two Paladins safely out of the wall, "Those cave-dwellers must have taken him."

"Them again?" Florona asked, sounding frustrated, "What should we do?"

"Those meddling mermaids are harmless, but the air-breather could prove troublesome if he doesn't fall back under our control," Luxia said with a scowl.

"Wait. Wait, wait, wait, what? Who needs to fall under our control?" Rivalz asked, looking around confused.

"Where's Suzaku? We gotta find him!" Milly exclaimed.

"And we will," the queen reassured them as she pushed them to sit down, "Don't worry your little minds about it. But first, we need to sit down and eat, talk, clear our heads."

Florona held the food out to the two Paladins. But they both seemed reluctant to take anything.

"No, we can't eat right now. If Suzaku's been taken…" Rivalz began while also popping a small piece of food in his mouth. The second he swallowed it though, any thoughts of Suzaku disappeared, and his eyes rested solely on the food, "Oh, boy. That... That is good, though."

"Rivalz, we can't-" Rivalz shoved a piece of a pastry into Milly's mouth before she could finish, and soon Milly was joining him in devouring the food in front of them.

"See? That's all you need. Here, we are all safe and warm," the queen told them.

The two Paladins, having finished the plate of food, contently floated up from their seats lazily began drifting around the room.

"Okay," Rivalz murmured.

"Yeah, we'll let you handle it," Milly slurred with a dreamy smile.

With the two Paladins successfully distracted, the queen turned to face her soldiers, "They are going to come. We must destroy what remains of their kind and bring Suzaku under our control. But first, Florona," the queen turned to the mermaid, "you were in charge of watching the air-breathers. So, now, it is time for you to take a swim in the garden."

Florona looked up at Luxia, and for a moment, a flicker of raw fear flashed across her face. But she soon bowed her head, submissively, "Yes, my queen."


"Okay, okay, hold on, let me make sure I understand," Suzaku said after the rebel mermaids finished explaining to him what was going on, "You think that the queen is brainwashing her own subjects? Do you have any proof of this? Why would she even do that?"

"What do you remember from yesterday?" Swirn asked casually as she swam around in a circle above them.

Suzaku took a second to think, "Well, we crashed here, saw the mermaids and the village, met the queen, then we had dinner, and then... uh... we-" He started in surprise when he realized that he couldn't remember anything after that. It almost felt like...

"My Geass originally was the ability to compel anyone to obey when I make eye contact with them. The drawbacks that I've noticed so far are that I can only do it once per person. So now that I just used it on Coran, it won't affect him again."

'And from what we've noticed, it also seems to affect the memory too… oh, please don't tell that that's what the queen has too!'

"You can't remember, can you?" Swirn asked.

"No, you're right, I can't," Suzaku shook his head.

"That's because you were under her control," Swirn insisted.

"Our theory is," Blumfump said, holding up a poorly done drawing of the queen with what looked like sonic waves coming from her mouth towards an almost dead looking mermaid, "the queen controls minds by using her voice to strike certain head switches in your ear pan."

Plaxum then swam up behind Blumfump with another drawing, this time of what looked like lasers coming from the queen's eyes, "And her magnetic stare locks on to your eye-to-brain pathway plug."

Suzaku felt his insides turn cold when he saw that drawing and heard the explanation. Lelouch specifically said his Geass could only activate with eye contact. Was this something that it was capable of doing? Could he enslave an entire nation if he wanted to?

"Plus," Swirn added, yet another picture of the queen shooting out sound waves right next to her, "her mind-control sonar is always broadcasting through the waters. Bong! Bong! Bong!"

"And she trains her people to use hypnotic movements to lull you under her control," Plaxum finished, swimming up closer to the Purple Paladin.

"Wait, I do remember a dancer at the banquet," Suzaku told them.

"Good, because I haven't finished my picture for that one," Blumfump said, before throwing the drawings behind him, before swimming up and practically getting in Suzaku's face, "But you see, she was infecting your brain!"

"Wait, so are you saying-" Suzaku was unable to finish his sentence as Plaxum dragged him off towards a giant clamshell. She tapped it once, and upon opening, several different colored jellyfish started swimming out of it into the open water.

"Sit," Plaxum said as she practically threw onto the clam. Suzaku landed with an 'oomph' and then yelped as he felt something wrap around his head. Looking up, he saw that Swirn was using seaweed to measure it.

"The entire village is under the queen's mind control," Blumfump said and was about to say something else when Suzaku interrupted.

"If that's the case, how come you three aren't brainwashed?"

"I was just about to explain that," Blumfump said before continuing, "You see, the only reason we aren't is because we wear these jellyfish that hide our brains from her powers. It's like we have no brains whatsoever. You can't control what doesn't exist."

"Okay, I guess that makes sense," Suzaku nodded and shrugged.

"Our heads are completely empty," Blumfump chirped.

"Yeah, I get it, it works," Suzaku said as Swirn then held the seaweed to measure his face vertically.

"Many years ago, the queen froze over the surface by blocking the thermal vents," Swirn explained to him as Plaxum started to swim among the jellyfish, trying to select the correct size for him, "She forced everyone to the depths, where she began to brainwash them. They became her prisoners."

"What size?" Plaxum called out.

"Eight and seven-eighths aquameters," Swirn answered.

"Okay, but why is she doing this?" Suzaku asked. There had to be a reason. Maybe there had been a rebellion, and she was being paranoid or-

"To kill them!" Blumfump exclaimed.

"Wait, what?! Why?" he asked, shocked.

Blumfump actually swam back a little and paused, "Well, we don't know that for sure, but hundreds of mermaids have disappeared and... never come back."


Just outside the Baku garden, Queen Luxia led Florona to the entrance of it. Here she had cast many of her disobedient subjects, never to be seen again. It was for the greater good of keeping her people safe and warm.

"Goodbye, Florona. It is time to return to the giver of life," Luxia ordered, and Florona slowly began to approach the mysterious garden.

If she had been on land, tears would have begun welling in her eyes. She knew if she went inside, she wouldn't come out. But it was by her queen's orders. And she could not disobey.


"We've tried to take out the queen, but failed several times," Swirn told him sadness coating her tone, "And every attempt depletes our numbers. Now, there are only three of us left. Without you, there is no hope."

"Found one," Plaxum said as she started swimming over with a sizeable jellyfish in her arms.

"So, what exactly makes you think I can fix this?" Suzaku asked, honestly.

"We saw the mer-cat you came in," Blumfump explained, "We think it can stand up against the queen and her forces. But first, you'll need one of these."

Plaxum came over with the jellyfish, "Now, they sting pretty bad and don't smell great."

"If my theory is correct, the smelliest ones block the most mind-control rays," Blumfump said further as Plaxum came closer.

Hearing Blumfump's talk about all these theories briefly reminded him of working with Lloyd and Cecile in the Engineering department. Though he doubted that Blumfump was a sociopath like the Earl. He wondered how those two were doing. Who was piloting the Lancelot now?

"So, are you a scientist or something?" Suzaku couldn't help but ask.

"No," Blumfump denied.

"Also, they can sometimes make your face swell," Plaxum added just before she put it on, "and you might experience hearing loss."

"Could you just put it on, please?" Suzaku asked almost impatiently. His outburst startled Plaxum a little, but the mermaid then quickly complied. Suzaku braced himself as the jellyfish was shoved onto his head.

Once the jelly had settled onto his head, Suzaku cried out, bending over and clutching his air bubble. It burned. Very, very badly.

"Is it burning?" Plaxum asked, "If it's burning, that means it's working!"

It took about a minute for the stinging to finally stop. Suzaku's face had swelled up pretty badly, especially around his mouth and left eye. But he'd endure it. The faster they did this, the faster the jellyfish came off.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" he asked through his puffy lips.

The rebels brought Suzaku to their map to explain their attack plan.

"Here's what Blumfump came up with," Plaxum said, turning her attention to the larger merman. He was holding a small figure that looked like a mini person.

"This is you," he gestured to it, "You act like you're still thought-swirled and get past the guards," he made the figure jump through the structure that must have been the palace over to the three mini clams colored purple, blue, and yellow. He placed 'Suzaku' down next to the purple clam and picked it up, "Get your mer-cat and grab the queen," he used the clam to snatch the queen figurine in its 'jaws,' "We'll mount a full-scale attack on the castle and free the people," he moved the three remaining figures inward around the castle.

"Seems like a good plan," Suzaku admitted. He could see Lelouch coming up with something similar, though he would've added his own little Zero flair to it too. However, there was a small problem Suzaku couldn't overlook, "I'll be honest though, I'm not the best actor. What will happen if they suspect me?"

"If your acting fails you," Blumfump started, before reaching into his poncho and pulling out a large puffed up fish. He tossed it towards the Purple Paladin, "this holds three doses of antidote to use on the guards. It should interrupt the queen's mind-control long enough for you to escape."

Suzaku took the fish, nodding, "My friends are in their too… but I promise that I'll do whatever I can to help."


Suzaku peaked out from the outcropping he was hiding behind. He was disappointed to see that several merman guards were keeping an eye on their Lions. Now that the swelling had gone down, he could see a little bit better. He took a deep breath before swimming out towards them.

"Good evening, soldiers," he greeted as politely and casually as he could, "quite the safe and warm day we've been having. If you could excuse me, I need to grab something from Yo-no!" Suzaku cried out in horror as the guards immediately threw a net over him and dragged him back towards the palace.

They took him straight to the throne room, where the queen sat serenely on top of it. She smiled down cruelly at Suzaku, who glared defiantly back at her.

"I had a feeling you'd come for your vessel," she said.

"Why are you doing this?" he demanded, "They're your own people! They don't deserve this!"

"All I'm doing is keeping my people safe and warm. Is that really so wrong? Servants, take Suzaku to the Baku Garden."

Suzaku heard the doors to his left open, and he gasped in horror as he saw Rivalz and Milly staring stoned face at him.

'Oh no!' he thought, realizing that Luxia was controlling them. Before they could grab him, he acted quickly and shot upwards with his jetpack over their heads. Even though they were underwater, Suzaku was still a warrior at heart. He wasn't going down without a fight!

"Everyone! Capture him!" Luxia ordered furiously, pointing at Suzaku's form.

With Suzaku now on higher ground, he had a good advantage as he waited patiently for the guards to come at him. Once they were in range, Suzaku managed to knock them both out with two quick but powerful kicks to the head.

Looking back down, he gasped as he saw Milly and Rivalz charging him as well, their expressions having not changed at all. He knew they would be mind-controlled, but he didn't expect to fight them. He didn't want to hurt them if he could. Suzaku leaped off the wall quickly began swimming to the entrance. In the process, he pulled out the fish that contained the antidote. If he could fire it at them together, it should snap them out of it.

He ducked when he saw Rivalz attempt to grab him from behind. He grabbed hold of the Blue Paladin's foot and flung him away into one of the throne room walls, temporarily stunning him.

He almost didn't see Milly swing her kusarigama at him, but he managed to turn in time. Instinctively, he grabbed the end of the chain that flew at him, barely missing the blade part of the weapon. He admitted that it was a risky move, one that he was sure Todoh-Sensei would've forced him to do a hundred push-ups for, but Milly was still pretty inexperienced with the weapon, so her aim wasn't always the greatest either.

He tugged forcibly on the chain, drawing the Yellow Paladin towards him with a yelp of her own. He made little work of tying her up with her own weapon before taking the fish and squeezing it forcefully in her face.

Milly gasped and blinked, "Huh? What-what wait, what's going on, why am I tied up?" was the first thing she asked before looking up at Suzaku, "Suzaku, why's there's a jellyfish on your head?"

Relieved to see that Milly was free from the hypnosis, he says, "I'll explain later, but I need you to grab Rivalz!"

"Wait, why-whoa!" She cried as Suzaku tugged the kusarigama chain again, this time freeing her from that, but making her spin rapidly for a moment. Suzaku doesn't have time to help her, though, as Rivalz came up and tackled Suzaku from behind, causing the Purple Paladin to lose his grip on the antidote fish. It helplessly bounced off the wall and outside the palace.

Suzaku managed to kick Rivalz off of him before he made a beeline for the fish outside. He managed to snatch it up again and would've been tackled again had Milly not grabbed the Blue Paladin first, locking her arms around his elbows and legs around his knees.

"Sorry, Rivalz," Milly apologized as he struggled. Despite this, she managed to hold Rivalz long enough for Suzaku to squeeze the antidote at the Blue Paladin as well.

As the mist cleared, Rivalz's eyes went wide before he shook his head rapidly, "Whoa! Whoa! Where am I? What am I doing? Milly, you're kind of hurting me."

"Sorry," she said again before letting him go, seeing that he was back to normal, and turned to their purple compatriot, "Anyway, Suzaku, about the jellyfish?"

"Guys listen," Suzaku said, swimming up to them with a severe frown, "you've been mind-controlled by the queen, and you were trying to kill me. And she's done the same thing to all of the other merpeople here!"

He gave a brief summary to them of what the rebels told him what was happening.

At one point Rivalz tried to comment, "Wait, that sounds a lot like-"

"Lelouch's Geass, I know," Suzaku nodded, "We can worry about that later! We need to get to our Lions now!"

"Got it!" Rivalz nodded.

"Right!" Milly agreed as the trio shot away from the courtyard and toward the Lions that were still parked beside the palace.

Before the three could make it to their Lions, to their horror, they were surrounded by several royal guards. Suzaku pulled out his katana again while Milly held tight to her kusarigama as well.

Suzaku braced himself to defend when one of the guards charged. But it turned out he didn't need to as the guard instead got hit in the face by a familiar fat fish. Turning around, Suzaku was relieved to see Plaxum and Blumflup swimming up behind them to back them up. In the distance on a giant manta ray, Swirn could be seen firing several jellyfish at attacking soldiers as well. Plaxum threw a starfish shuriken at one of the guards that pinning his arm directly to a rock wall.

Suzaku grappled with one of the guards before leaping off of him in a backflip, disarming the guard just before an antidote fish was fired at him as well.

"Wait, who are these weirdos?" Rivalz asked, in a little too much shock to try and help. Milly had managed to block a couple of coming attacks, but the rebels took care of most of the other soldiers already.

Suzaku swam up beside them and smiled, "Don't worry, they're with us."

"Come, we must hurry to your mer-cats," Plaxum called over. The Paladins didn't waste another second as they quickly swam inside each other there Lions.

Once Suzaku was situated inside of Yoru, he pressed a button that opened his Lion's jaw. Plaxum swam inside and hung onto one of the teeth, "You hanging on?"

"Yes, let's go!" Plaxum called out as the jaw closed.

"Okay, so what's the plan exactly?" Rivalz asked over the intercom.

"We need to grab the-"

"We need to grab the queen and take her to an ice prison that Blumfump built, where her mind-control powers will be trapped because of the thick ice and the jellyfish," Plaxum finished for Suzaku.

"Um, who's that?" Milly asked.

"That's Plaxum. Just go with it!" Suzaku shouted before Yoru, and the other two Lions shot off towards the palace entrance.

As they approached the entrance, the team plus Plaxum saw several figures standing at the entryway. One of them their target.

"There she is!" Rivalz shouted as they charged straight towards it.

Plaxum let out a savage growl as she loaded a slingshot she had with her and shot two more antidote fish at the palace entrance, engulfing the queen and several guards in the green mist. Thanks to the confusion it caused, Plaxum then shot out a grappling hook with an octopus at the end of it that hit the queen right in the middle. With a grunt of surprise, Luxia was reeled into the Purple Lion and detained at last.

"Got her! Let's go!" Suzaku shouted as he and the others took off towards the ice prison the rebels had prepared.

Inside of Yoru's jaw, Queen Luxia groaned and opened her eyes, looking around in confusion, "Where am I? What's going on?"

Plaxum, still holding the end of her jellyfish grapple, glared vengefully at the monarch, "What's going on is you're not mind-controlling these people anymore, Your Majesty."

"What? Mind-control? Me?" to everyone's surprise, the queen sounded confused and even scared. Luxia looked down as if in thought before her eyes widened, and she looked desperately at Plaxum, "No! Please, my people are in danger! You must go back!"

"Plaxum, what's going on?" Suzaku questioned from the pilot chamber.

"Nothing! It's a ruse!" the rebel insisted stubbornly.

"You sure?" Milly asked on another comm. For some reason, the queen's reaction sounded genuine. Had they gotten something wrong?

"I wasn't controlling anyone," Queen Luxia insisted stubbornly. Suddenly her eyes widened again, and she gasped in horror, "The Baku!"

"She's lying!" Plaxum exclaimed.

"I'm not. Please!" the queen pleaded as she tried to explain, "The last thing I remember is that organism in the garden falling from space. I went to inspect it. I thought it was a plant."

Unbeknownst to them, back at the palace, the Baku Garden walls started to quiver erratically.

"Wait a minute, we've been eating that plant," Rivalz realized, his mouth already salivating from the memory, "And it's delicious! It's so safe and warm."

Before Rivalz could nod off again, Suzaku cried out, realization hitting him like a bullet train, "We had it all wrong! The queen had nothing to do with this! It was the plant the whole time. She was just the first one to be mind-controlled."

"But why?" Plaxum asked, clearly confused.

"The Baku has been harvesting us all. We are its food source," the queen explained frantically.

"No way…" Rivalz gasped, eyes wide.

"Guys! I think she's telling the truth. Look out the window!" Milly shouted, looking back at the palace.

Turning their Lions around, the trio watched in horror as what they thought was a peaceful, harmless-looking garden, slivered to life. Dark violet light seemed to absorb into its being. Like a massive, angry anaconda, the Baku rose from its resting place and let out a mighty and deafening roar, its mouth opening to reveal rows of sharp serrated teeth inside its mouth.

Gasping in shock, Suzaku quickly opened Yoru's mouth, "Plaxum, get the queen somewhere safe!"

The rebel quickly led the queen away from the Lions and the creature it was now facing. With civilians out of the way, the Lions prepared for battle.

"Okay, change of plans, that Baku thing is our real target. Let's take it out!" the Purple Paladin exclaimed before he charged towards it.

The Baku reared back and charged towards the Lions, gliding swiftly through the water and quickly knocking Maeraka and Milly out of the way while Polaris and Yoru dodged it with ease. Rivalz quickly shot a beam in the Baku's direction when it attempted to hit Milly again, but it promptly slithered out of the way to avoid being hit.

"Whoa!" the Yellow Paladin cried, struggling to maintain control through the turbulence, "Guys, that thing's too quick for me. I can't hit it! Maeraka's not very good in the water."

"Really?" Rivalz asked, "Polaris is moving better than ever. There's something about fighting underwater that's making me feel extra quick and powerful."

"Yeah, Yoru's feeling pretty good too," Suzaku observed, as he smoothly corkscrewed around the Baku's tail, "Which is weird, she should still be healing from our fight with Zarkon."

"Maybe it's due to the lack of light down here?" Rivalz guessed, "I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but when we're right out in open space and in darker places, you and Kallen almost match neck to neck in speed. And Yoru's ability is some sort of black hole suction so…"

"So Yoru works better at night, got it. Must be the same for Maeraka, but in light and daytime," Suzaku concluded.

"Huh, makes sense," Milly reluctantly agreed.

"Anyway, I think I know how to stop that thing," Suzaku told them.

"How?" Rivalz asked as the Baku swirled around them once again, Milly barely dodging its hit this time.

"Simple. We gotta stop shooting where the creature is and start shooting where the creature's gonna be!"

"So… like this?" Rivalz asked as Polaris shot out a stream of ice in the Baku's path. Just as the beam should've hit the ocean floor, the Baku's head got his with the attack instead, encasing it in a prison of ice.

"Great shot Rivalz!" Suzaku cheered with a grin.

The victory was short-lived as the Baku used its tail to break the ice, showing that little to no damage had been done in the process.

"Okay, take this!" Milly shouts as she has Maeraka shoot out a supernova in the Baku's direction. The flash bomb went off, and the Baku screamed in surprise. But once it wore off, the only thing it seemed to do was annoy it, as the monster quickly smacked Maeraka down towards the floor.

"Milly!" Rivalz shouted as he and Polaris raced after her.

Gritting his teeth, Suzaku spiraled out of the way of the Baku's tail and shot toward some rocks in the distance. If he could get it away from the village, they would have more space to fight and fewer casualties.

"What do I do?!" he whispered desperately. With perfect timing, Suzaku felt Yoru purr confidently as several images flashed through his mind, "You think that'll work?" receiving a nudge of confirmation, Suzaku inhaled, "All right, here goes!"

Turning around sharply, Suzaku faced the Baku head-on, and just as the creature seemed about to strike, Yoru opened her maw and started sucking in the water rapidly around the Baku. The suction was almost acting like a drainage pipe, pulling the water inward like a whirlpool.

The Baku roared in shock and tried to swim away, but the force of the pull was too much for it to break free.

"All right! Go, Suzaku!" Rivalz shouted gleefully. Before he could give any more comments, though, he felt a nudge from his own Lion and looked down at the controls. To the side, an image that looked like sonic waves lit up, "What…? Oh, okay! Here goes nothing!"

The Blue Paladin thrust his controls forward, and Polaris let out a loud roar. Appearing on her back, very similar to how Aka's appeared, a giant cannon came to life. With a burst of power, a giant sonic beam shot out from the cannon, engulfing the Baku on the other side.

The monster was now stuck between a rock and a hard place as it struggled to stay away from the whirlpool Suzaku had created and the sonic waves Rivalz had let loose.

Off to the side of the battle, Milly looked in awe as the two boys practically had the monster pinned down. But Milly wasn't the type of girl to stay out of a fight that easily.

"Come on, girl, let's not let them hog all the glory!" she smirked as she shot one her controls forward, and Maeraka shot a bolt of energy at the rock wall above them. The beam sent the rock wall crumbling down around them, beginning to bury the Baku alive.

"This place is coming down! Let's get out of here!" Suzaku shouted as he and Rivalz ceased their assault and quickly retreated away from the falling rocks. They heard the Baku let out one last cry of anger before a large boulder collided with its head, silencing it forever.

"Suzaku, that was so cool! You practically made your own whirlpool! And Rivalz, you just dropped a sonic boom on that thing!" Milly cheered happily.

"Hey, but you finished the job with that rockslide Milly," Rivalz complimented, "so thanks!"

"Oh, I try!" the Yellow Paladin giggled as the three Lions turned back to the palace victorious.


After everyone had calmed down and it was confirmed the Baku was gone, everyone returned to the palace. The queen and the three rebel fighters stood at the entrance waiting for them.

"So, Blumfump, the jellyfish, the magnetic stare, the hypnotic dance. You got it all wrong. It was the food that the Baku was giving all this time," Suzaku explained to the leader.

'But… even though Geass also didn't have anything to do with this, I still want to talk to C.C. about it… if this is something Lelouch is capable of...' he didn't finish his thought, feeling too sick to his stomach to do so.

Blumfump, however, didn't look too upset about being proven wrong, and instead looked rather intrigued, "Well, I did say they were theories. Mer-science isn't always about getting the right answer."

"I want to thank you all for what you've done," Queen Luxia said graciously, "You've freed my people, and I will do all I can to protect that freedom. I vow to be the voice of my people," she then turned to the three rebels, "I beg of you to help. Will you be my advisors?"

"Of course, Your Highness," Blumfump immediately said, pulling out some scrolls from underneath his poncho, "I have some great ideas. Have you ever heard of electricity?"

Plaxum then swam up to the Paladins personally, "And I wanted to personally thank you, Suzaku," and, to everyone's surprise, the mermaid swam up and kissed Suzaku's helmet. Despite himself, the Purple Paladin couldn't help the small blush that spread around his cheeks. Rivalz stood to the side, mouth hanging open jealously.

Plaxum then sighed, "Finally, I can remove this thing," she said, as she took hold of the jellyfish, to reveal a beautiful blue mermaid that smiled back at them.

"Woah!" Rivalz gasped, eyes sparkling at the mermaid's revealed beauty. It quickly ended though with Milly giving him a sharp elbow to the ribs.

As Rivalz took time to recover, Milly quickly approached the queen, "Queen Luxia, the reason we came here in the first place was to see if you could help us find our friends."

"Of course," the queen answered. Two of Luxia's guards then brought out a giant clamshell that they placed in the center of the square.

"It has been many years since we have activated the energy beacon, but perhaps it is time to rebuild our civilization and reach out to interstellar travelers once again." As the clam opened to reveal a beautiful pearl sitting in the middle of it, the queen exclaimed, "Activate energy beacon!"

The pearl in the middle of the clam suddenly glowed a bright gold, and moments later, a brilliant ray of light shot up from it, ascending towards the planets surface, easily breaking through the thick ice that surrounded them. It reached high above the atmosphere and could easily be seen from the planet's orbit.


Moments later, from space itself, a familiar wormhole opened up, and Rai and Zerith swiftly exited it.

"I see the beacon!" Rai exclaimed as he pushed Zerith closer towards it.


"There is a mer-cat in our system that appears to be heading our way," Luxia informed them as the image of the Green Lion appeared on the surface of the beacon.

"It's Zerith! Rai's coming!" Suzaku exclaimed in relief.

"See guys? I told you they could help us," Rivalz said, crossing his arms with a smile.

"Yeah, plus we saved a whole planet by ourselves! Now we can brag to the others back at the castle," Milly smirked.

"Duly noted," Suzaku chuckled and shook his head fondly.

"You know, I can totally get used to this whole 'Defender of the Universe' thing," Milly commented with a smile as they watched Rai approach ever closer to the planet.


AN: Alright! Another chapter out and the team is officially back together again! Rivalz got his sonic cannon and Suzaku developed a new skill (underwater use only!) Sorry if a lot of people wre expecting another chapter after the ywere scattered, but to be honest, I really wanted to get closer to the chapter where they get back to Earth, and that is officially happening in the next couple chapters! I can't wait to write it!

Hope you enjoyed this update! R&R and see you next time!